Daily Current Affairs 15th October, 2021

Daily Current Affairs 15 October 2021 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

UP tops in financing units under PM Employment Generation Plan
The Uttar Pradesh government said that it has financed the highest number of units in the country under the Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP).

  • The UP government has facilitated a total of over Rs 123 crore as margin money through various banks to about 3,588 units under PMEGP with a total cost of the projects worth over Rs 450 crore in the current financial year.

India, US to raise 100 billion dollar annually to fight climate change
India and the US reaffirmed their commitment to raising $100 billion annually from public and private sector sources to help develop the two countries’ efforts to tackle climate change.

  • The climate crisis was the first topic of discussion at a meeting of the India-US Economic and Financial Partnership yesterday under the leadership of India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and US treasury secretary Janet Yellen.
  • A joint statement said the first session of the meeting dedicated to climate finance, reflecting our respective commitments to driving urgent progress in combating climate change and the critical role of climate finance in achieving this shared global goal,”


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India Slips to 101st Rank in Global Hunger Index 2021; Behind Pak, B’desh and Nepal
India has slipped to 101st position in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021 of 116 countries, from its 2020 position of 94th and is behind its neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Eighteen countries, including China, Brazil and Kuwait, shared the top rank with GHI score of less than five, the website of the Global Hunger Index that tracks hunger and malnutrition.

  • The report, prepared jointly by Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide and German organisation Welt Hunger Hilfe, termed the level of hunger in India “alarming”.
  • Now with 116 countries in the fray, it has dropped to 101st rank. India’s GHI score has also decelerated — from 38.8 in 2000 to the range of 28.8 – 27.5 between 2012 and 2021.
  • Neighbouring countries like Nepal (76), Bangladesh (76), Myanmar (71) and Pakistan (92) are also in the ‘alarming’ hunger category, but have fared better at feeding its citizens than India, according to the report.

WHO releases Global Roadmap to defeat Meningitis by 2030
The World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners launched the first-ever global strategy to defeat meningitis, a debilitating disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people each year.

  • The strategy, the Global Roadmap to Defeat Meningitis by 2030, aims to prevent infections and improve care and diagnosis for those affected, according to a WHO statement.
  • It also aims to eliminate epidemics of bacterial meningitis — the deadliest form of the disease — and to reduce deaths by 70 per cent and halve the number of cases.
  • The strategy could save more than 200,000 lives annually and significantly reduce disability caused by the disease, the WHO and its partners estimate.


BANKING & FINANCE

RBI Grants SFB Licence to PMC Bank Suitor Centrum Financial-BharatPe Consortium
Four months after giving an in-principle nod to Centrum Financial Services and BharatPe to establish a small finance bank, the RBI granted a licence to the consortium that had expressed interest to take over the crisis-impacted Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank.This is the first time in six years that the central bank has given a banking licence.

  • The new SFB has been incorporated as “Unity Small Finance Bank” and the business model is “one of collaboration and open architecture”, uniting all its stakeholders to deliver a seamless digital experience.

Indian Overseas Bank is now Integrated with TN Govt for all Treasury collections
Indian Overseas Bank is now integrated with TN Govt’s IFHRMS (Integrated Finance Human Resource Management System) portal designed for collection of all treasury receipts.

  • IFHRMS portal is developed as a comprehensive management system by integrating Human Resources and Financial services to improve operational efficiency.
  • Indian Overseas Bank is now authorised to collect all the receipts of Tamil Nadu Government under IFHRMS portal through both offline and online. The bank has also joined PFRDA in promoting pension and retirement planning.

Indian Bank, Fisdom tie up for digital gold, pension funds, portfolio management
Indian Bank said it has added a host of new digital wealth management products on its mobile banking app in partnership with Fisdom, a fintech company that offers financial products, such as mutual funds, insurance and National Pension Scheme (NPS) on its platform.

  • The two had announced a partnership in June this year to offer investment services for mutual funds and NPS to the bank’s 10 crore customers.
  • In addition to “Mutual Funds”, new digital products like “Pension Funds”, “Digital Gold” and “OnlineTax Filing” will be available to customers on the bank’s mobile apps. Also, bank’s HNI customers will be able to access sophisticated and customized products (PMS, AIF, FI etc) under the association.

U GRO Capital and Kinara Capital announce co-origination partnership for MSME loans
U GRO Capital and Kinara Capital have entered into a strategic co-origination partnership to offer collateral-free business loans to small business entrepreneurs in India.

  • Together, both companies plan to disburse ₹100 crores by the end of FY22 to MSMEs in manufacturing, trading and services sectors. Available financing for MSMEs will range from ₹1 lakh to ₹30 lakh with tenure ranging from 12–60 months.
  • Financing can be availed for working capital and asset purchase directly from Kinara Capital, and women-led businesses receive an automatic, upfront discount with the HerVikas program.

PhonePe and NBBL partner to launch ClickPay 
Digital payment platform PhonePe has, in association with NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd (NBBL), launched ClickPay for its customers.

  • ClickPay is a unique payment link that enables customers to make recurring online bill payments (electricity, water, gas, loan, etc) and removes the need to remember tedious account details associated with each biller or service.
  • This link sent by the biller will lead the customer directly to the payment page, fetching the bill amount instantly.

PayPal Signs MoU With IIFT; launches India Digital Trade Facilitation Forum
PayPal signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), to jointly launch the India Digital Trade Facilitation Forum (IDTFF) for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

  • The partnership is aimed at providing education, training and capacity building to empower MSMEs and help scale their businesses across global markets using digital platforms.
  • The IDTFF will serve as a platform to address export issues, while equipping small businesses with the necessary tools to expand their consumer base and reach a global audience.


BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Karnataka signs MoU with NASSCOM for industry-aligned skill development of students
The Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) entered into an MoU with the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom),to introduce three new courses.

  •  This will provide industry-based skill-oriented experiences to students pursuing higher education. institutions.”
  • Under the MoU, three courses on digital fluency, artificial intelligence and cyber security will become part of the curriculum.They will be made available free of cost to non-computer science students and faculty members. All these courses will have the theory and practical components guaranteeing skill development among learners.


SPORTS

‘Our Goal for All’, the tagline for 2022 Women’s football Asian Cup
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) unveiled ‘Our Goal for All’ as the official tagline of the 2022 Women’s Asian Cup to be held in India from January 20 to February 6.

  • The tagline was unveiled on occasion of the 100 days countdown for the tournament in which Continent’s top 12 teams will contend for the prestigious title next year across Navi Mumbai, Mumbai and Pune.

Divya Deshmukh becomes India’s latest Woman Grand Master
Child prodigy Divya Deshmukh has become India’s latest Woman Grand Master (WGM) at the First Saturday Grandmaster chess tournament in Budapest, Hungary.

  • She scored five points from nine rounds and came up with a rating performance 2452 to secure her third and final WGM-norm.


APPOINTMENTS

RBI Clears Re-appointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as MD of Axis Bank
The Reserve Bank approved re-appointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as managing director of private sector Axis Bank for a period of three years.

  • The extended three-year term would be effective from January 1, 2022, Axis Bank said.

UCO Bank MD Atul Kumar Goel Elected New Chairman of Indian Banks’ Association
The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) elected UCO Bank Managing Director A K Goel as its chairman.

  • Goel replaces Union Bank Managing Director and CEO Rajkiran Rai G as head of the banking sector association.
  • The Association elected SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara, Canara Bank MD L V Prabhakar and IDBI Bank MD Rakesh Sharma as deputy chairmen. Madhav Nair, country head of Mashreqbank PSC, was elected as honary secretary.


AWARDS

Meghalaya Min James Sangma Awarded For Initiative To Make ‘Vegan Leather’ From Pineapple
PETA India has decided to confer on Meghalaya Environment Minister James P K Sangma the Progressive Business Concept Award for his plans to produce ‘vegan leather’ in the northeastern state.

  • Mr Sangma had recently announced in Hyderabad that the Meghalaya government plans to produce leather using pineapples found abundantly in the hilly state. He had said the administration is also planning to open a climate change museum and introduce the subject in school curricula.


SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 

App Launched To Spread Awareness About Maintaining Oral Hygiene Among Children
A bi-lingual mobile application ‘Healthy Smile’ has been launched to spread awareness about maintaining oral hygiene among children, the AIIMS said.

  • The initiative of the Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, through the AIIMS intramural research grant, aims to spread awareness about maintaining oral hygiene of children right from infancy, and also motivate them to brush thoroughly twice a day.
  • The app has a musical two-minute brushing timer with child-friendly colourful panels, motivational songs, preventive dental care tips for all age groups of children, brushing demonstration videos, FAQ’s and oral care tips during pregnancy.


IMPORTANT DAYS

World Student’s Day
October 15 of every year is celebrated as World Students’ Day in honour of former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam, who was born on the same day in 1931.

  • The day aims to acknowledge the efforts of Kalam towards education and students.
  • This year, the theme for World Students’ day is “Learning for people, planet, prosperity and peace”, which aims to reaffirm the role of education as a fundamental right of every person across the world.

International Day of Rural Women
International Day for Rural Women is celebrated on October 15.The day focuses on gender equality and empowering women in rural areas.

  • For this year, the theme is “Rural women cultivating good food for all”.

World Standards Day 
World Standards Day, also called International Standards Day, is celebrated globally on October 14 every year.

  • The day is marked to raise awareness about the importance of standardization in the global economy among the consumers, regulators and industry.
  • The theme for World Standard Day 2021 is ‘Standards for sustainable development goals- a shared vision for a better future’.

International E-Waste Day
The International E-Waste Day (IEWD) is celebrated on 14 October every year to promote the correct disposal of e-waste throughout the world with the aim to increase re-use, recovery and recycling rates.

  • This year’s International E-Waste Day will focus on the crucial part each of us has in making circularity a reality for e-products.
  • The theme for 2021 IEWD is “Consumer is the key to Circular Economy!”.

India, Sweden Set To Celebrate Innovation Day On Oct 26
India and Sweden are set to celebrate the 8th Innovation Day on October 26 during which they will discuss various aspects of climate change and the possible solutions to bring green transition.

  • The online event themed ‘Accelerating India Sweden’s Green Transition’ is hosted by India Unlimited in association with the Embassy of India in Sweden, Sweden-India Business Council, and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
  • The one-day event will be divided into nine parts to discuss various aspects of climate change and the possible solutions to bring about a green transition. The sessions will include an exchange of ideas over the implementation of digital technology and Artificial Intelligence to introduce climate-friendly solutions.


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